


Hermann: Tend Newt

by Astrodynamicist



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Second Person, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2013-09-01
Packaged: 2017-12-25 06:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/949850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrodynamicist/pseuds/Astrodynamicist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"With some difficulty, you crack open the door. The room beyond is completely dark. Newton lies on his bed, curled in the fetal position, wearing just a t-shirt and boxers. You open the door further. When the light from the hall falls over him, he makes a pained noise and huddles tighter into himself, covering his face with one arm. You shut the door as quietly as possible and move to his side. "Migraine?" you ask in a soft voice."</p><p>Newt's initial solo drift with the Kaiju brain caused some brain damage, the effect of which is debilitating migraines. In the initial post-war days, sometimes Hermann has to help him out. </p><p>Also Hermann is bad at feelings. It is kind of a problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hermann: Tend Newt

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my betas IngloriousHeist, TiredTypingandTea, ReAllyssa, and TrillianAristophane! Additional thanks to the former three for explaining how migraines work.
> 
> This is the fic formerly known as "In Which Newton Proves Once Again That He Is Utterly Incapable of Taking Care of Himself." I changed it because that title was shitty.

When you arrive at work that morning, you see new kaiju specimens arriving. You do not see Newton. With a soft sigh and some parting instructions to the workers unloading the crates, you leave to find him.

There's no response when you knock on the door of his quarters. You knock again, louder, more insistently. "Newton? _Newton, are you in there?"_ There's muffled groaning. You frown.

With some difficulty, you crack open the door. The room beyond is completely dark. Newton lies on his bed, curled in the fetal position, wearing just a t-shirt and boxers. You open the door further. When the light from the hall falls over him, he makes a pained noise and huddles tighter into himself, covering his face with one arm. You shut the door as quietly as possible and move to his side. "Migraine?" you ask in a soft voice.

"Nnnngh. Mm-hm."

You scowl down at him. "This is the third migraine you've had in as many days," you whisper. "You need to see a physician."  

"No' righ' now!"

"I didn't mean right now, you idiot!" you hiss. “Have you taken anything for the pain?”

He shakes his head almost imperceptibly. "Nn-nh. Don’ wanna move.” 

With a sigh, you look around the little room. He must have some sort of pain medication in here somewhere. You see piles of laundry, presumably dirty, scattered across the floor. Beside the bed are stacks of paperback novels and manga volumes. His glasses sit on top of his dresser, sharing the space with a small army of kaiju figurines, some of which have matching posters taped to the walls. You can't see any likely place for a bottle of pills to be, and you are definitely not going to try to navigate this mess to find one.  "Where do you keep your medication?"

“Don’ have any….”

"Of _course_ you don't."           

\---

Several minutes later, you return with ibuprofen and a bottle of water. You carefully sit beside Newton and pour out two pills. "Here, take these."

"Ngh. Don' wanna move."

"Oh, for God's sake."

"Ngh."

" _Newton_."

He doesn't respond. You sit and wait for him to move, to take the pills, to do something to help himself. But he just lies there, curled in a miserable ball, his breathing shallow from the pain. As you hear it hitch, then hitch again, and again, your face softens. You set the pills and the water aside. One arm behind his shoulders, you pull him onto his back and prop him up slightly, enough that he can swallow without choking. The motion makes him wince, and the smallest whimper squeaks through his lips. You nestle him close to your body to hold him steady. He cracks one eye open to shoot you a confused look, but almost immediately squeezes it back shut. You realize how very, very close together you are, and for a moment you tense. Then you pull back as far as you can without dropping or jostling him. “Hold out your hand. I’m not feeding you these.”

His lips quirk. "Ngh, fine." You give the pills one at a time, holding the water to his lips after each so he can drink. Then you ease him back down to the mattress.

"Thanks," he murmurs.

"Those should take effect soon-"

" _Ahh!_ The specimens are coming today!" He shoots bolt upright but immediately slides right back down, hitting the mattress with a soft _whump_ and a strangled yelp.

You stare down at him in disbelief. “You _idiot_.” 

“Shuddup.”

“You’ve been lying here for God knows how many hours in _debilitating pain_ , and you think you can just jump up and run to the lab?”

“Shuddup. ‘S not s’bad.” 

You stare at him silently.

“...’Kay, yeah, I hurt, shuddup.”

"Yes, well, in any case, you can't do anything with the specimens in this state. You’ll have to wait."

He whines.

"Will you stop that? You are acting like a child."

" 'ave a _headache_...."

You roll your eyes. "They will be ready in the lab when you're feeling better. I gave the workers instructions for where to put them. Will you settle down?"

"Told'em not to sloosh stuff around too much?"

" _Yes_ , Newton. I know the proper procedure!"

"You sure?"

"I have been a part of the K-Science Division as long as you have! And as I am the one with organization skills, I will do a better job of this than you would."

He tries to glare at you. "Screw you, you fussy... fusser. Nnnngh."

His faces scrunches back into a grimace. You don't think you've ever seen him so miserable. You reach a hand towards his head, intending to stroke his hair to comfort him, but you stop yourself. After a moment of letting it hover awkwardly over your colleague, you return it to your lap. There must be something you can do. You try to remember everything you’ve heard helps migraines. After some consideration, you carefully scoot back and pull his head onto your lap. You start massaging his temples in the most businesslike manner you can muster. He makes a little startled noise, but then he relaxes into it immediately. After a little while, some of the tension seems to drain from his neck and shoulders. Eventually, the pained creases on his face start smoothing out. "Better?"

"Yeah." He opens his eyes. There are yellow and gray flecks in them. You never knew green eyes could have yellow and gray flecks. But then, you never had an opportunity to examine green eyes so close before. You suppose it makes sense, really, given how the genetics of eye color work and-

You suddenly realize you have been staring _very intently_ into your colleague’s eyes.

You yank your gaze away and notice that he’s smiling up at you. Not smirking. The curve of his lips is softer, kinder. This smile is actually genuine. Grateful, even. That’s not an expression you ever expected him to direct at you. Without quite meaning to, you smile back at him. It is a small and soft and gentle thing. Your eyes rove the rest of his face. There are still signs of pain, and you want to smooth them away, to stroke his forehead and his hair until he relaxes under your hand. You feel yourself leaning forward. It would all be so easy, to close this little distance between you. And what does distance mean anymore, after you’ve Drifted with someone?

Safety. It means _safety_ , Hermann.

You _don’t_ want to kiss Geiszler, that is _absurd_.

"I need to get back to work," you say stiffly, jerking away. Your ears feel hot. "Promise me you'll visit the infirmary as soon as you feel up to leaving your quarters?" you bite out.

"Yes, mom." You look back at him with a scowl. He smirks at you. This is familiar territory,  this is good. You feel some balance return to your universe.

You leave, and hope that he didn't notice your moment of weakness.


End file.
